Office of the Historian

Hopkins Papers: Telegram

The British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Eden) to the British Ambassador (Halifax)1

most immediate
[London,] December 29, 1941.

7305. My immediately preceding telegram.

Cabinet feels that we ought not to consent to arrangement by which various states of British Commonwealth are separated in list. It has been the practice hitherto in inter-Allied2 declarations to group together the Commonwealth states in view of their common Sovereignty and this is the rule which should govern the present case. To depart from this precedent now may well give us a great deal of trouble later on. In St. James’s Palace Declaration the Commonwealth Governments were grouped together, although the Declarations were inter-Governmental in form. It is particularly [? desirable]3 at the present moment to emphasize the fact that separate members of the British Commonwealth are acting together. What are the [? special]3 reasons advanced by the President which make it necessary for us to give this concession?

2.
It is true that in the case of international2 declarations and treaties practice has been to use either (1) recital of heads of States [Page 373] [? in which]4 case U.K. and Dominions are grouped under The King; or (2) to refer to “Government of U.K. etc.” in which case alphabetical order of countries is strictly5 adhered to but we would not wish to extend the practice under (2) to inter-allied declarations such as the present.
3.
You probably will inform Dominion representatives of views contained in paragraph one above.
4.
The Viceroy’s view is that India should be associated with the declaration but that this should be done with the assent of his Council which he is consulting. He promises to let us know as soon as he has their answer. We are telegraphing text of declaration to the Government of India.
5.
The Cabinet also note with great [? regret]4 that there is no reference to social security in revised declaration.
  1. The source text is a copy given to Hopkins.↩
  2. Underscored in source text↩
  3. Bracketed insertion appears as in source text.↩
  4. Bracketed insertion appears as in source text.↩
  5. Underscored in source text↩
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  7. Underscored in source text.↩
  8. Bracketed insertion appears as in source text.↩